Wednesday - In which I implemented another intervention, and the kids learned a little more about Miss Taylor
So, Wednesday is a day of a lot of specials for us, including music, art, PE, and library, so there's not a lot of standard instruction that goes along. However, there's still time in the classroom, and we actually instruct PE, as our school is too small to hire a PE specialist. To start off, we tried a new intervention, in which our student with pretty severe behavior struggles gets five cards that say "Break! 5 minutes!" for the whole day. This means that she can choose at any time throughout the day, that she needs a break from the general flow of things. She will be given five minutes to compose herself and come back into the classroom, no questions asked. This appeared to work very effectively, until she decided to use all five break cards, one right after the other, in order to get out of a single specific subject. Hah! Should have covered that when introducing the break cards. This girl is too smart for me I guess;)
Also on Wednesday, we went to PE, as I said before. Mr. Johnson* took half of level three (grade 3 and 4) out to PE while I stayed in to do the health class with the other half of level three. After sitting through health instruction, I went out with Mr. Johnson and the class to have some PE.
Now, it's important to know that Mr. Johnson is the most....flamboyant...staff member at my school. He boasts things like competitiveness, being outgoing, and having absolutely no shame. The kids in the class - nay - in the school, know that Mr. Johnson likes to win. He doesn't like to lose, at all.
So, we head out to the field. Mr. Johnson looks around, realizing that there are two teachers, and our kids are on two teams for a dodgeball variation called Jedi (or witchdoctor). I jovially agree to be on one of the teams. Anyone that knows me, knows I like to win, too. If you know me, you also know I've played softball for a long, long time. After we began playing, the kids on my time quickly realized Ms. Taylor can hold her own in PE. I'm going to say that Mr. Johnson and I took the game to another level, probably. It was so much fun!
Following dodgeball, we played a game similar to baseball, only instead of hitting, you throw it. It also had some other differences. We took turns throwing in our teams, with all the team telling me to go last (so I could be the clean-up thrower).
Not that it matters, but my team completely cleaned up Mr. Johnson's team. Not that it matters, because having fun is what's important, but we totally conquered.
Anyway, the whole rest of the day, all my students kept asking, "Ms. Taylor, can you please throw your big American throw??"
The whole thing was pretty good for my self-esteem.
*not his real name
On Less Appropriate Matters:
The other day at dinner, my host mum says something along the line of, "I heard of this new cereal...GCB something. I think the B stands for B******."
Thinking that was a pretty silly name for a cereal, I started generating ideas of what the GC might stand for including "Granola Crunch B******", "Great Crackling B******", and others. We chuckled about it for a bit.
The following night, we were sitting around watching TV, when all of the sudden, a commercial comes on for a new show. A 'SERIAL' tv show, called GCB. Then we all understood a bit better. As it turns out, it actually stands for 'Good Christian B******'. I, however, think Granola Crunch would be better.
Friday, Primary School Olympic Day
Today, we had an awesome plan for an Olympic day at our school! We celebrated by dividing all the kids in the school into seven different countries that compete in the Olympics including Spain, India, Jamaica, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, and Greece. The kids all played different games, rotated through different activities, and actually competed against each other. India ended up winning first place. The teachers were to dress up in UK colors, as we're the 'hosts'. I, of course, didn't really bring anything that could work for being a UK supporter. So I headed off to the 'Op Shop', which is short for 'Opportunity Shop', which is basically just a thrift store. Heading through the shops, I found this super awesome shirt from the 1984 Los Angelos Olympics! Check it out:
Some Interesting Cultural Differences...
As far as I know, everyone I grew up with either loves, tolerates, is used to, or understands the rain. Today, it was raining during recess. So, the whole school stayed inside. I was absolutely floored! Before I had heard from any of the adults, one of the kids said, "It's raining, we can't go outside!" My immediately response was, "Just put on your jacket..." Sure enough, however; an announcement was made saying recess would be inside. I was absolutely boggled.
Also, last night, when getting ready for bed, we could hear the sound of the rain on the roof. For Kylen and I, it was really comforting! We were talking about it, when our host Mum comes in and promptly says, "ugh! I hate the sound of rain! It's like a dripping faucet!"
Hah! I've never met anyone that doesn't enjoy that sound!
The plan for this weekend:
Kylen was given some Ice Hockey tickets by a teacher at her school for this weekend! So us, and another girl from Ohio will be going into the city to watch an Ice Hockey Game!
Sunday, I'll be playing at my first netball game! The school's staff has put together a co-ed netball team, and I'm a part of it! I can't wait:)
Monday, we'll be going to dinner with my mom's host parents and their rotary club.
Next Sunday, we will be going to a Under 9s football match with my mom's host brother and his family, and spend the day with them as well!
I have developed a list of things that I REALLY need to do before I leave:
Healesville Sanctuary (to see Australian animals) - we should be getting to go with Kelsey, who lives out in Lilydale, which is very close to the sanctuary:)
Uluru (Ayer's Rock) - no idea how I'll get there
Melbourne Aquarium - it turns out that teachers get a really great deal on aquarium entry, so we may figure how to fanagle that!
The Great Ocean Road - Melissa, from North Dakota, is living further south down the Great Ocean Road. It so happens, that we might get a chance to go south and spend the weekend with her and her host mum!
Ballarat - Not sure about this yet...
Sovereign Hills (an old gold rush town) - our host family is planning on taking us over there so we can go gold-panning.
go to a footy game - the staff at my school has said they will take us to a footy game, and we're depending on that!
go to a BEACH! - I've been looking to find the best ways to go to a beach at all...mostly looking for the cheapest way:)
If you have any suggestions about any of these things, feel free to post, please! Thanks so much!
I was also told about a photography club called the Knox Photographic Society meets fairly close to where I live! I'm interested, and thinking about going as a visitor, which they support!
Looking back over this enormous post, I see a lot of exclamation points. Hmm...I guess that's a good thing! Talk to you soon!
-Megan
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